Huntley flies past Dundee-Crown

Huntley forward Delaney Loprieno needed to try something different against Dundee-Crown goalkeeper Denise Maldonado.

It was clear that the countless attempts to get a low shot past the Chargers’ roadblock just weren’t happening.

Loprieno decided to let the ball fly from over 20 yards out, connecting on the top of the goal, perfectly bouncing the ball inside for an unassisted score to give Huntley a 2-0 lead.

The Red Raiders’ lead held as they downed D-C 2-0 in the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division girls soccer matchup Tuesday in Huntley.

“In the first half, I tried to put it in the low corner,” Loprieno said. “I tried to put it in the air to see how she was in the air. I wanted to hit it with my left foot because I had some good shots with my left foot.”

Huntley (1-0, 1-0), Loprieno especially, had several more opportunities to score in their season opener finishing with 25 shots. But Maldonado was relentless in the box.

Late in the second half, the first-year varsity player rushed out of the goal box to secure a stray ball, but could not clear it. Red Raiders’ forward Beth Parks got the ball and tried to score a quick goal, but Maldonado had already sprinted back into the net and made the save for the Chargers (0-3, 0-1). She finished the game with 23 saves.

“(Huntley) was back there a lot,” said Maldonado, who was extremely vocal during the game. “I almost lost my voice. My defense was back there a lot. They gave my confidence.”

Huntley was able to get comfortable after spending the majority of the first half on the Chargers’ side of the field. Rachel Zobott scored Huntley’s lone first half goal connecting off a pass from Katie Costantino to beat Moldonado on a 2-on-1 play at 33:58.

“We set up our play that time,” Huntley coach Kris Grabner said. “Ashley Schorr did a great job setting up Costantino, who sent the ball to Zobott. We had our opportunities early, then (Dundee-Crown) really settled down and played better soccer.”

Dundee-Crown really struggled to get the ball onto the Huntley side of the field. The Chargers attempted 6 shots in the game, but just 1 in the second half. Red Raiders’ goalkeeper Kelli Rubino stopped all 6 shots, including a pair of shots from the Chargers late in the first half. Dundee-Crown’s only shot of the second half came 1 minute, 15 seconds into play.